Southold police enlist help of Suffolk PD in probe of racist comments on Zoom town meetings

Southold police are working with the Suffolk County Police Department’s Hate Crimes and Computer Crimes units to investigate a recent pair of incidents where racist comments were posted on Zoom during town meetings.

At the beginning of the town board’s Jan. 4 work session, the comments section on Zoom was bombarded with a series of racist remarks and death threats. The meeting was the first for two new board members, Greg Doroski and Brian Mealy, the first Black person to hold public office in Southold.

Southold police Chief Martin Flatley told Newsday that his department is investigating the Jan. 4 incident and another on Dec. 20 at a meeting of the town’s Anti-Bias Task Force. His department has also contacted the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Flatley said.

An unidentified individual posted anti-Black slurs in the Zoom comment section during the Dec. 20 meeting, according to task force representatives.

"We’re trying to identify, first of all, what took place, then try to correct it so that it doesn’t happen in the future, but also to find anyone who is responsible for doing it, and that’s what the focus of our investigation is right now," Flatley said.

The comments, while "very immature," did not appear to target any individual, Flatley said, and appeared to be done "just to get reaction from the people at the meetings."

Mealy told Newsday he was "disappointed" such language was used in a public forum but did not feel he was individually targeted.

"It was just very sad," Mealy said. "We use Zoom because of COVID, because people want to be safe. And to see somebody use it in that kind of despicable way was very sad."

Town Supervisor Scott Russell could not be reached for comment.

Mealy, Doroski and Councilwoman Sarah Nappa said the board is discussing policy changes to prevent hate-related virtual incidents at public forums and that it will be discussed at Tuesday’s work session.

Nappa said she thinks the town’s IT department could train moderators how to more quickly remove disruptive attendees from Zoom chats. Doroski said outlining clear procedures for using town Zoom accounts may also curb such incidents.

Sonia Spar, co-chair of the Anti-Bias Task Force, said both incidents could present an opportunity for the community to have a serious conversation about racism.

"We need to take this seriously," Spar said. "We can’t let our society continue to be desensitized to this kind of hateful speech. We need to send clear messages, and the community needs to stand up and say ‘We’re not going to let this happen.’ "